Driver Repeatedly Plows Into People on Vegas Strip; 1 Dies

Police say one person was killed and six are in critical but stable condition after a car crashed into groups of pedestrians Sunday night on the Las Vegas Strip. A woman intentionally swerved her car onto a busy sidewalk two or three times Sunday and mowed down people outside a Las Vegas casino, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, police said. The vehicle was in the northbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard near Bellagio Way when it drove up onto the sidewalk about 6:30 p.m. in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino and struck pedestrians, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. The deceased victim has been identified by Clark County coroner John Fudenberg as 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela of Buckeye, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix.

A total of 37 people were impacted — in addition to the fatality and critical patients, 26 suffered non-critical injuries and four were treated and released from area hospitals. Brett Zimmerman said. “We know this was not an act of terrorism,” he said. “We will comb through that footage to get a detailed idea of what occurred. “ After the crash, the vehicle continued to head east on Flamingo Road before it was found at a hotel, McGrath said.

The vehicle then went further down the road and backed into another crowd of pedestrians, he said, estimating that rate of speed at between 45 and 65 kilometres per hour. Joel Ortega said it made them remember how their neighborhood was disrupted after the Dec. 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, near their home. The Miss Universe pageant was being held nearby at the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino at the time of the crash but there were no indications of a connection.

The driver, 25-year-old Adacia Chambers of Stillwater, was this month found competent to stand trial on four counts of second-degree murder and 46 counts of assault.